The Third Customer (2)
Pop. Pop-pop.
"…Hah."
Guild Master Aisia let out a faintly lewd little breath as she began undoing the buttons of her suit. I'd only worked free a single pressure point, and already she was loosening up this much — I could only wonder what state she'd be in by the time the massage was finished.
While that thought quietly turned over in my mind, she shrugged out of the thickest outer layer of her jacket and tossed it carelessly onto the desk beside her.
"……."
Through the faintly damp white dress shirt, the soft silhouette of her undergarments showed through. I offered a silent word of thanks for the view and reached for her shoulders again — but her undressing, it seemed, was far from over.
The moment the jacket was off, her hands went straight back to her front, and she started unfastening the buttons of her dress shirt one by one from the top.
Pop. Pop-pop. Pop.
"……."
Honestly, taking off just the outer layer would have been more than enough. The only reason I didn't stop her was that I simply wanted to watch. Opportunities to see a beauty of Guild Master Aisia's caliber undress right in front of you didn't come around often. It was probably an instinct any man would share.
And besides, for a massage, shedding even one more layer genuinely made things easier. There was no real reason to object.
Shhhk.
The sweat-damp white dress shirt slipped away, revealing the pale skin beneath — and a white bra that looked deliberately chosen to match the shirt so it wouldn't show through.
I'd only meant to give her a massage, and somehow I'd ended up with an unexpected, rather steamy glimpse of the Guild Master's bare skin. I was still quietly delighted by the coincidence when I reached for her again —
Click.
…Huh?
Without the slightest hesitation, she unhooked her bra as well, and my mind went blank with something that wasn't quite confusion.
"There. That should clear out anything in the way of your massage, Beor."
"……."
"Beor?"
"Ah — yes!"
The sight of Guild Master Aisia's smooth, unobstructed back had short-circuited my brain. It took her calling my name a second time before I managed to pull myself together.
"…Come to think of it, I probably didn't need to go as far as the undergarments. For a man, that must be a rather… overwhelming sight."
"N-no! It's fine!"
"I've spent so long around nothing but women that I just stripped out of habit. If it bothers you, I can put it back on."
"No. This is perfect, Guild Master. Fewer obstacles make it easier to work the muscles, after all."
"…If you say so."
Whether baring her chest in front of a man was actually considered acceptable behavior in this world, I honestly had no idea. Was a woman taking off her bra here roughly equivalent to a man going shirtless back in my old world?
From what I'd confirmed yesterday in the bath while touching Coco's chest, women's breasts were still erogenous zones here too. Whether the Guild Master was simply the rough-and-tumble type who could bare herself in front of a man without a second thought, I still wasn't sure — but I set the question aside and started kneading her shoulders with both hands.
What I needed to do right now wasn't admire the glimpses of her chest I kept catching past her shoulders. It was work her pressure points free.
Knead—!
"Nnh, hah…?!"
With every last cumbersome barrier gone, I took hold of the Guild Master's bare shoulders and rubbed both pressure points with my thumbs. Without the thick fabric as a buffer, the little sounds she made came out a touch more indecent than before.
Her skin was smoother and softer than I'd imagined. I worked the knotted muscle of her upper body free, one section at a time, from top to bottom.
"Your shoulders are quite firm, Guild Master Aisia."
Press—!
"Nngh, haah…!"
"Not as bad as Senior Elin's, but they're pretty tightly wound."
Press, press—!
"Hnn, h-haah…!"
With every pressure point I released, her breathing grew louder, and the sounds she made a little more lewd. They were still far more restrained than the moans Elin or Coco had let out — but hearing the Guild Master, of all people, whimper like this was a striking contrast to her usual image.
Even the Guild Master, who always looked so composed, could make sounds like that. And those sounds only grew clearer the further I worked my way down from her shoulders.
"They say sitting in a chair for long stretches makes your back and lower back knot up easily. Like this."
"I don't just sit around all day, so there's no need to — nnnngh, hah…?!"
Press, press—!
"Glad to hear it, but it's still a spot that tightens up easily. Best to be careful."
"Hah… hah… A-all right…."
When I moved on to her back, Guild Master Aisia let out a strangely sensual moan, as if deeper, older tension was finally coming loose.
"Your lower back is pretty stiff too. I'll work this as gently as I can."
Rub, rub.
"Haaaah, h-hnn… Hoo, hoooh…."
"If it's too much, should I slow down a little?"
"Just finish already and stop fretting… Adventurers will start flooding in soon, so I need to get back to — nngh, hnnn…."
From her back down to her waist, I used soft palm strokes to loosen her body from the inside out.
Knead, knead.
"Nnhah?! W-wait, Beor…! Y-you don't need to go that far…!"
"What are you talking about, Guild Master? You have to experience a side massage yourself if you want to know what mine actually feels like."
"You really don't need to go that — nnnn, hahk?!"
When I worked her flanks, she turned out to be surprisingly ticklish, letting out little laughter-laced moans — and somewhere along the way, a crooked smile kept tugging at the corner of my mouth.
Yeah. This job really suited me.
Using massage as an excuse to freely work a woman's body however I liked, and watching her inevitably moan through it — I enjoyed both far too much. Even if it never escalated into anything as steamy as it had with Coco, that was fine. As long as I could indulge this personal little selfishness every day, I could happily keep working forever.
After roughly ten-odd minutes of massage — neither especially short nor long — from her shoulders down to her sides, fine beads of sweat had gathered across Guild Master Aisia's back, a quiet testament to just how worked up she'd gotten.
"Hoo… ha… hoooh…."
"How was it, Guild Master Aisia?"
"…Wh-what…?"
She seemed to have briefly checked out while catching her breath, so I gently reminded her of the original purpose she might have forgotten.
"My massage. You said you'd try it yourself and give me an evaluation. Do you think it's something we could run officially at the guild, the way you mentioned?"
"…R-right. If that's what you want, Beor, you can start as early as today. At the very least… I don't think any adventurer who receives your massage will have much to complain about."
A passing grade, delivered by Guild Master Aisia after experiencing my upper-body work firsthand. In truth, the whole thing had been more about satisfying my selfish desire to get my hands on her than about any serious evaluation — but walking away with a glowing review of my technique as a bonus wasn't a bad feeling at all.
Judging by her usual demeanor, she was the cool-headed type who never offered empty praise. Her approval meant that most adventurers would walk away from my massage thoroughly satisfied.
I was already enjoying the receptionist life at the Adventurer's Guild. The thought of how much more enjoyable it was about to become put an involuntary smile on my face.
"That's quite the expression, Beor."
"…Pardon?"
"Every time you massage another woman, you make that same delighted face. I've been wondering for a while now whether you simply enjoy the act itself."
"Ah…."
"At first I thought it was just because you got along so well with Elin. But then there was Coco, and now even with a dull woman like me — watching you make that face while working my body, I'm finally certain. You really do love massaging for its own sake."
So making the massage official hadn't only been about using me as a promotional draw for the guild. Part of it had been about letting me do something I actually liked.
Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn't the massage itself I loved so much as the legal excuse to freely handle beautiful women's bodies and watch the lewd reactions they couldn't help making. But in this world, every adventurer was a woman — and a beautiful one at that — so the distinction hardly mattered. With men so vastly outnumbered by women, running a massage service wasn't going to bring in any male clients anyway.
…Though I did feel the need to correct that last, rather self-deprecating remark of hers.
"I never thought of you as dull."
"…Hm?"
"You, Guild Master. I don't think you're a dull woman at all."
"…You've got some nerve."
"I'm only stating the facts. At least, my personal impression of Guild Master Aisia while she was receiving my massage just now was that she was rather… cute."
"On any other day, man or woman, I'd have cuffed you for that…. But I'm in a good mood, so I'll let it slide this once. Go on downstairs."
"Yes, Guild Master."
For someone threatening to hit me, the way the corner of her mouth kept twitching made me wonder if she actually liked that kind of praise. But I wasn't so dense as to push my luck after she'd already said she'd let me off — so I made a quick exit from the Guild Master's office and headed down to the first floor.
Either way, I had the Guild Master's approval now.
The Lifkikaya Adventurer's Guild massage service. Its first official day of business was about to begin.
(A version of the above illustration without glasses.)